Enslavement
by RockBane
Summary: And yet he isn't a mindless slave. But then, it's likely due to him not being a Digimon. Although I did wonder those few times when he had two to three Dark Rings on him... - A Digidestine has been enslaved by the Digimon Emporer, will he be freed?


**I Don't Own Digimon!**

**- o 0 o -**

Loki

He studies the Control Spiral that rests on his left arm before turning to study the row of five Dark Rings that rests on his right arm. As he traces one of the Dark Rings with his left index finger, the ring he was touching breaks apart into data with the other four rings following the first. The data of the Dark Rings then hovers over his right arm for a few seconds before, ultimately, combining with the Control Spiral.

"That's unexpected." He muses softly to himself as he eyes the Control Spiral, almost expecting something to happen to it now that it absorbed the data from the five Dark Rings. Brushing his bangs back, he gets to his feet and stands up.

It wasn't long before the door of his room opens and a Gotsumon walks in with a tray of food for him to eat. He walks to the table, wondering what his master has planned for day as he sits down on the chair as he pulls the tray over to himself once it's on the table. The Gotsumon already heading out of his room, leaving him alone once more.

While he privately hates being alone since it reminds him strongly of the fact that he's empty inside. He doesn't have a clue who he really is, his master named him Loki and that's the name he answers too since he didn't remember what he had been called before he found himself on that medical table months ago.

He could only guess what his life might have been like before he had five Dark Rings on his arm. Oddly enough, he did recall bits of what he had like with less then five Dark Ring about his right arm. His earliest impressions were outrage, shock, fear, and then faith, faith in what, he didn't know but it had been there.

His first memory has him trying to get through a group of enslaved Digimon to get at his master. His vision red and that on his right arm had been three Dark Rings. Though his a bit hazy about what happened during that battle, he could only guess he failed at getting his hands on his master. When he had four Dark Rings on his arm, he recalls that his appearance changed but it didn't cause him as much pain disobeying his master's orders.

_I almost escaped then._ He muses sadly as he finishes his meal. By the time he had five Dark Rings, his master had grown wary and its rare for him not to be accompanied throughout the base by at least two champion Digimon. The pain he gets when disobeying a direct order increases overtime as well.

_And now I have a Control Spiral. I wonder just how painful it'll be disobeying him now?_ He wonders to himself as he finishes drinking his drink.

The door of his room opens and the Gotsumon enters to take the tray from the table. He watches the Digimon passively and then as the door closes, he gets up from his chair to begin pacing, unsure what to expect now that he's wearing a Control Spiral. He can't help but feel edgy about what's going to happen next.

He knows that today was special, that he'll either be brought before his master or his master will come here to see him. And so as he paces about his room, he keep shift his arms about and gazing at his left arm, trying to imagine what kind of plans his master has for him now. His breakfast felt like dead weight within him as he turns his gaze inward as a storm of emotion stir within his mind as he waits for something to happen.

Digimon Emperor

He watches his pet project pace about his room. Even now, with the Control Spiral about his left arm, he's wary when it comes to the teen he's renamed Loki. Loki's silvery white hair reaches his shoulders, Loki's cloths alter each time a new Dark Ring is put on him, even now, Loki's cloths had changed due to having the Control Spiral on his arm. What really catches his attention is the teen's eyes, instead of whites, Loki's eye whites were black and his eyes had been green.

Now though, Loki's eyes were red in colour and even glimpsing them on the monitor he finds it hard to suppress a shutter. He can't figure out how it was that despite numerous attempts, Loki continues to have a personality and a mind of his own. He's thankful for his early order to Loki to forget everything that happened before he became his slave, his birth name, his Digimon partner, his personal history, . . . his family. Forgetting everything that he had once been, giving him a blank slate to command.

_And yet he isn't a mindless slave. But then, it's likely due to him not being a Digimon. Although I did wonder those few times when he had two to three Dark Rings on him..._ He thinks with a frown as he recalls the berserker state Loki had entered when that order finally drove the teen off the deep end. It chilled him to think of what could have happened to him if he hadn't managed to dart the other teen when it looked like Loki had finished off those rookie guards he had about him during both of those times.

After watching Loki pace about his room like a caged animal, he turns his chair to the side and takes a few steps from the chair before he summons a screen to order a pair of champion Digimon to meet him in front of Loki's room. With that, the screen vanishes and he walks out of his command center, trying to keep his unease off of his face.

_I named him well, didn't I?_ He muses sourly as he walks down the stairs as he recalls the first time the other teen woke up in his care with the first Dark Ring about his right arm . . .

**-/o-**

"Where... where am I?" He hears the teen wonder from his position on the table top. He turns to stare at the boy he found at the bottom of the cliff this morning when he arrived to check on the status of his Control Spires. It seemed that sometime during the night, the teen had entered into the Digital world and must have been chased by one of his slaves over a cliff where he found the fool.

"You really shouldn't move too much, Loki. You don't want to aggravate your injuries." He tells the teen with a smirk fixated on his face. "That's not my name." The teen growls as the teen's head turns to look at him, the other's eyes narrow as he scowls at him.

"It is now, if you look on your right arm, you'll see what I mean. From here on in, I'm your master and I have decided your name shall be Loki until you either find a way to escape from my base or your friends come to free you." He tells the injured boy on the table top and chuckles at the horrified expression on his face.

The other's expression changes as steely determination covers the other teen's face. "They will come for me once they realize I'm missing. You have no right to keep me here." Loki says and he just smirks as he turns his back on the injured teen. "We shall see, Loki, we shall see." He says and he exits the room laughing manically.

**-o/-**

_True, I did learn a great deal about how well Dark Rings work on humans. But at times, he's more trouble then he's worth._ He muses grimly. He ideally did wonder if any of the other Digibrats ever wondered if he was keeping their friend captive but, as the months passed, they never made any threats that indicated they suspected and oddly enough, he never gloated or even hinted about having their friend.

_I wonder if I hadn't taken Loki's Digivice to the real, world it have lead them right to my base?_ He wonders briefly before discarding that as a useless idea to think about since he already knew the answer would be yes, it would.

"I wonder what they're reactions would be if I ever introduced them to him? Horrified or they would believe it's just a Digimon disgusted as a human, I would imagine." He muses out loud to himself as he finally gets close to Loki's room.

The two Weedmon saluted him as he approaches the door. He ignores them as he unlocks the door and walks in with the two Digimon following at his heels. Loki stops pacing to look at him with his red eyes that seem to glow with his black whites.

He suppresses a shiver as he meets those bright red eyes. "Like my gift, Loki? I'm sure you recalled how I used one similarly to control a MetalGreymon about a week ago." He says, fixing a smirk on his face as he faces either his greatest experiment or his most horrifying mistake.

Loki's eyes flicker to the two champion Digimon flanking him and says nothing as the teen's right hand rubs the Control Spiral. "Come, I want to show you something." He orders after studying Loki for a few seconds.

He turns on his heel, knowing that Loki's curiosity would over come his desire to test his limits at the moment. He can hear Loki following him as he heads to his in door arena. It's been a while since he forced Digimon to fight for his own amusement but he ideally wishes to see if Loki could still match a rookie's strength and to see just how much control he has over the teen who's now wearing a Control Spiral. It's not as if he can't put another one on Loki's right arm now that those five Dark Rings' data have been absorbed by the Control Spiral.

Even if Loki doesn't manage to match a rookie's power, he already wishes to examine Loki just to see if the constant exposure to the Dark Rings has alter his core data in any way and then, in a months time, reexamine him to see if exposure to the Control Spiral has done anything as well. After all, the alteration to the other's eyes were mildly concerning compared to the other changes to Loki's body and facial features.

_It's like he's forgotten what he's suppose to look like... But then, other then giving him a name, I never allowed him by a mirror since I gave him that order._ He muses thoughtfully as he opens the doors of his in door arena.

He walks right up to his throne and turns to look at Loki, wondering what kind of thoughts were racing through the boy's mind. "Wondering why I brought you here?" He asks the teen, causing Loki to get startled out of his thoughts and turn to look at him with a slight frown on his face.

"It's quite simple. You will be battling a fellow slave, I don't know which one exactly, I did want it to be a surprise. So then, get down into the arena and fight your opponent to the best of your abilities, Loki." He orders the teen and Loki pales slightly before looking away sharply as he begins to walk down to the wall of the arena.

He watches as the Control Spiral glows red slightly as Loki hastes, signally that Loki had just tried to disobey his order. The teen drops down and walks to the center of the arena within five seconds of having the Control Spiral glow, a new record considering it usually take a minute for the previous five Dark Rings to force Loki to obey. A remarkable improvement over his use of Dark Rings already.

He holds up his Digivice and within seconds, one of the cage doors open and out crawls a Crabmon. "Begin!" He orders once the bars behind the Crabmon close and within seconds, Crabmon uses a special attack, though Loki manages to evade the attack as the teen charges towards the rookie.

Loki tries kicking Crabmon but the rookie catches Loki's foot about the ankle and then tries to send Loki flying through the air, likely towards the wall of the arena. But Loki manages to grab a hold of Crabmon's pincer and manages land on his feet while using the momentum to throw the rookie through the air. As Crabmon recovers from the toss, Loki's already trying to get close once more.

"Scissors Attack!" Crabmon snaps and Loki brings his arms up to defend himself as the attack tries to shred his cloths. Blood seems to begin to ooze out of the injuries Loki received from Crabmon's attack, but Loki doesn't haste as he tries to press his attack.

As Crabmon tries to club Loki's legs, the white haired teen leaps into the air and manages to land on top of Crabmon. He watches as Loki punches at Crabmon's Dark Ring while Crabmon tries to buck Loki off of his head. Finally, as the smaller pincer comes into play, Loki jumps into the air and lands back on Crabmon's head, pressing the rookie into the ground.

From where he's sitting, he can tell that Loki's panting as he continues to try to destroy the band about the back Crabmon's of large pincer. "Scissor Magic!" Crabmon declares and the attack sends Loki flying away from the rookie. As Crabmon moves towards Loki, he watches as the teen begins to cough once he rolls onto his belly.

"Hold, I declare Crabmon the win. Return to your cage and you two, get him to the med ward." He orders and the Digimon do as they were bid. He's willing to admit that the match seemed to be fixed, but, it did prove to be rewarding in the fact that Loki isn't invulnerable. He watches as the two Weedmon lift Loki as gentle as they can before they bounce towards the open doors leading out of the arena while the rookie walks into the elevator that will take it back to its cell.

Once they were gone, he gets up off of his stone throne and is about to leave when he notices a few red spot among the sands of the arena. He turns his head sharply away from the field and stalks out of the large room.

It wasn't long before he arrived at the room reserved to treat injuries. The two Weedmon were standing by the examine table where they put Loki. He moves to the computer console to begin the examination of his pet project, although soon he'll likely be focusing more of his attention in completing his perfect partner since the Digibrats were beginning to really annoy him.

As the scanner scans Loki, he begins draining the liquid out of one of the experimental stasis tubes. He also programs the computer console to scan Loki in a mouths time and to alert him to any abnormalities within Loki's data. Once that's done, he takes a look at the report for today. He frowns as it does report a minor oddity in Loki's code but that's about it.

He presses a button and the glass tube for the stasis tank opens. "Put him in there, don't aggravate his injuries." He orders the two Weedmon and they obey within seconds. Once Loki's on the grid floor of the tube and the Weedmon vines had been retracted, he presses the button once more and the glass tube lowers. Another button and the tank fills with the special liquid that will help speed up Loki's recovery as well as take care of his nutrient needs.

As he watches as some shoulder restraints lower to keep Loki centralized as well as cover Loki's nose with an oxygen mask. He walks out from behind the computer console to stand before the tank, staring at the teen thoughtfully. "Perhaps when I let you out, I'll have some of your friends around to keep you company, Loki. Wouldn't that be nice?" He muses with his arms behind his back, Loki hasn't waken so there isn't a reply from the teen.

After a few minutes of silence, he turns on his heels and heads out of the room with the two Weedmon following behind him. He does pause long enough to dim the lights but that's it. The door closes once the Weedmon exit out of the room. With a wave, he dismisses them as he heads to his command center.

Soon the preparations will be complete and he'll be ready to put the finishing touches on his partner to be.

Loki

_Huh? What? Where am I?_ He wonders as he feels so very weightless. He tries to yawn, only to finds something come rushing into his mouth, causing him to try and cough. He opens his eyes and within seconds realizes that he's in some kind of liquid. He moves his arms to examine each as best as he can, he mentally growls as he makes out the Control Spiral on his left arm.

In a few seconds, his air is cut off and he begins to panic, he tries to pound on the glass but his arms don't reach. He then begins to try and swing his legs, his shoes manage to connect with the glass. And so he kept throwing his weight at the glass and then, something finally gives and the glass explodes outwards before vanishing into bits of data.

He falls to the ground as he begins to cough up that liquid. It takes him a few minutes to get his center of gravity and then, after sometime, he begins to look about the room. It takes him a second or three to realize that the room seems to be off kilter, which causes him to frown. After a few minutes, he tries his hardest to stand, he can't help but feel a bit weak and wonders just how long he's been contained within that tube.

The dim lights flicker before they, too, die, which causes him to frown. But in the end, he decides not to question his luck and heads for the door. It takes a few seconds for him to open it as best as he could as the power throughout the base seems to die. He can't help but notice a very large blast path that will likely take him out of the base.

"This looks pretty old." He mutters to himself as he studies the half melted edge of the large energy blast. "How long have I been out?" He wonders as he walks through the layers of the fallen base. "I guess he's gone... So then, what do I do now?" He wonders softly as he stares out at the desert that the base crash landed in.

The wind only caresses his cheek as he pushes his bangs out of his eyes as the wind moves about him. With a glance back, he steps out onto the desert, not sure what to make of this sudden freedom but something tells him that he might want to get as far from here as he can, to get away from the place that had been his prison for so long, to try and fill that empty space within his being.

Without giving his previous 'cage' a second look, he walks out onto the sand of the desert, taking note of how bright the sun was as he jogs away from the base. He can't wait to put as much distance between himself and this ruined reminder of his enslavement. _If only I can get rid of this Control Spiral as easily._ He thinks as he glares down at the black device about his left forearm.

After a few hours of walking, he pauses and glances back towards the base as he spots smoke moving up into the sky. He cocks his head to the side in a questioning manner before shaking his head and continuing on walking int he direction he's been walking in since he exited out of the base. _I am free, for now at least._ He muses as he glances down at the Control Spiral.

The sun seems to be setting but he doesn't pay it much mind. He wanted out of this exposed desert and he'll walk all night if it means he'll be leaving this place far behind him.

**-)o(-**

He gets out of the water, shivering slightly at how chilly the morning was but he had to admit that a dip in the river had been refreshing after traveling for so long. He pauses as he stares down at this reflection, his red eyes seemingly glowing because of the blackness of his eye whites. He blinks before looking up from the river, he runs his fingers through his wet silver white hair as he climbs onto the bank.

He glances at his cloths but doesn't walk towards them to see if they're dry yet. He shivers once more as he moves to lay on the grass with his wet boxers dipping into the ground under him. Other then shivering every so often, he could feel himself drift in and out of slumber but when the sun got too bright, he decided it was time for him to go and check on his cloths.

By the time he's done getting his cloths on, he hears a very familiar voice mutter something softly to somebody. He frowns as he turns to look in the direction of Wormmon's voice even though he didn't hear what the rookie had said. He walks in that direction and as he stops by a tree, sees a kid in gray cloths staring down at the green rookie that he recalls seeing a few times around his master's base.

He can also hear something beep too.

Ken Ichijouji

_What is it that my Digivice is tracking? It's been going haywire ever since we visited my old base._ He wonders silently to himself as he tries to locate what his D-3 has homed in on. He shies away from thinking of what else happened during that episode.

"We're getting close, Wormmon." He tells his partner and then stops as he realizes that his partner has stop. He blinks but walks back to where his partner is. "Wormmon? What's wrong?" He asks his partner softly as he stares down into his partner's blue eyes.

"I don't like seeing you beat yourself up, Ken. I don't see why we can't team up with the other Digidestine. I'm sure they'd be interested to know what it is your D-3 is tracking." Wormmon says and a lot of different things pop into his head as he stares down at his partner.

Suddenly his D-3 beeps louder and he looks away from Wormmon to look about him. On seeing a teen with red eyes, he can't help but suddenly feel cold. "Loki! You're alive? But weren't you in the medical ward?" His partner asks the teen and the teen, Loki, turns from eyeing him, to looking at Wormmon.

"The power began cutting out, so I woke up. I managed to shatter the glass keeping me in the tube. It wasn't that hard to get out of the base once I got out of the med ward." The teen answers, he begins to tune out their conversation as he begins to remember just who this was and what he put him through.

_Oh god, what have I done? Dear lord, how can I ever be forgiven for what I put him through?_ He wonders as he sinks to his kneels as he tries to wrap his mind around the fact that if Loki hadn't woken up when he did, the teen could have been... Would have been... He can feel something get lodged in his throat as he stares at the boy he had saved and then enslave, a boy who has a Control Spiral about his left arm.

"Dear god, how can I fix this?" He wonders softly out loud to himself as he begins to sob at the sight of his greatest mistake, at his sin.

Loki

He leans on the tree with his arms crossed over his chest, his right arm trying to cover up the Control Spiral that's still on his left arm despite his best attempts to get it off. Both Wormmon and himself blink as they hear somebody whisper something before sobbing softly.

He frowns as he finds the kid in gray cloths kneeling on the ground with tears beginning to trail down his face. True, there does seem to be something familiar about the other teen, but it escapes him as he grows uneasy about this reaction he brought out in the teen. He gives Wormmon a helpless look while the Digimon just seems to sigh sadly before the little green Digimon moves to comfort the teen.

"Why are you crying? You injured or something?" He asks the other teen, moving to stand before him. He didn't see injury but as he bends down to check the kid's forehead.

The other teen pushes him away before getting to his feet and running off. "Is it something I said?" He asks Wormmon and the little Digimon just sighs. "I think the shock of seeing you alive and well was a bit overwhelming, Loki." Wormmon says softly and he gives the rookie a puzzled look.

"But I never met him before, have I?" He asks the Digimon and Wormmon sighs. "He's the one who put that on you." Wormmon says, nodding to his left arm. He feels the blood drain from his face as it dawns on him what Wormmon is implying.

"But he doesn't look anything like..." He begins before he stops to think it over a bit more. "He did look familiar but I just... I mean, his cloths..." He trails off, not sure what it was he's trying to do.

Confusion reigns within him as he watches as Wormmon heads off after their supposed master. _What happened? Just how much time did I spend in that tube to make everything upside down? And what does this mean for my continued freedom?_ He wonders as he sat there, on his butt, trying to come to terms with this latest twist of events.

After a while, with a sigh, he gets to his feet and stares off at where the two had taken off too. _Should I follow after them?_ He wonders before his stomach decides to make itself known.

With a sigh, he takes a look about him in hopes of spotting something to eat. _I'll go after them after I've had something to eat._ He decides with a hand over his midsection. With a sigh, he picks a random direction that wasn't where either his former master or Wormmon had taken, hoping to find something to eat before he confronts the pair once more.

Kari Kamiya

"I wonder what Ken is doing in this area." She muses as she glances about the forest, trying to spot something that could reveal what's important about this area of the Digital world. "Well, whatever it is, I'm sure we'll find it because we're the good guys!" Davis declares and she just sighs while Patamon gets out of her arms to take to the air.

"I think I hear something over there!" Patamon says as the orange Digimon faces a northwestern direction. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Davis declares with Veemon echoing that sentiment. And so, with Patamon in the lead, they head off to see what it is that's captured Patamon's attention.

As they draw closer they hear cries of 'Demon!' As one, they pick up their speed and as they arrive within a clearing, they find a kid with silvery white hair holding aloof a Floramon while another two Floramon had sticks in their 'hands'. With their arrival in the clearing, the Digimon and the teen turn to regard them.

It's then does she see where that Demon comment came from as she gasps at the kid's seemingly glowing red eyes with black for his eye whites. "Huh?" Was all the teen says and within a few seconds, the Floramon that's being held aloof manages to spray pollen in the supposed teen's face, causing the 'teen' to drop the plant Digimon and try to wipe his face with the back of his hand.

As the teen's left arm comes within view, she felt her eyes widen as she spots the Control Spiral on the kid's arm. _He's a Digimon? I thought when we defeated Ken, all of those Dark Rings and Control Spirals became inactive. What's he doing wearing one now? Could Ken be..._ She wonders as she narrows her eyes as she watches as the supposed teenager finish wiping the pollen off his face.

The Floramon had bolted behind them while their partners move to stand between them and this Digimon in disguise. "Alright, you! Who are you and what are you doing with a Control Spiral about your arm? And what were you doing terrorizing these poor Digimon?" Yolei demands and the teenager blinks, giving them a puzzled look.

"Who says I was doing anything to them? They're the ones that started throwing things at me at the sight of me!" The supposed teenager replies and one of the Floramon shout, "You work for the Digimon Emperor! Of course we'll put up a fight to keep from being captured!"

"How is walking through the forest capturing Digimon?" The white haired teen demands as he glares at the Floramon. "You haven't denied that you work for the Digimon Emperor, have you?" One of the Floramon pipes and the teenager just rolls his eyes. "I've tried taking the damn thing off, but it doesn't come off! I've tried hitting it with rocks, using sticks to try and get under it, what do you want me to do? Stick my arm in a fire and burn my arm in hopes it'll come off?" The disguised Digimon demands.

"..." She wasn't the only one at a lost at what to make of all of this. "So you don't answer to Ken?" Cody asks and the white haired teenager blinks, as if realizing that they were still here. "Ken? That's his name? Yea high, gray cloths?" The teen asks, holding his hand at Ken's height and they nod.

"I saw him a few minutes ago, he took off in that direction with Wormmon hot on his heels. He was crying when he took off. Something about me set him off." The disguised Digimon says as he points a bit to the southeast.

_Ken? Crying?_ She tried to imagine what could cause that reaction as she stares at the disguised Digimon, after all, people don't have black eye whites or that shade of red for their eye color. After all, Dark Rings and Control Spirals were used on Digimon as Ken never set them on the human members of the Digidestine.

"So let's get this straight, Ken saw you and then took off crying because seeing you triggered something?" Yolei asks and the unusual teenager nods. "That sounds about right." And then the teen's stomach growls, causing the disguised Digimon to look embarrassed as one of his hands go to his midsection.

"I haven't had breakfast yet. I was looking for something to eat when I encountered them." The teenager before them nods at the Floramon. She sighs but can't help but relax as it seems that the disguised Digimon seems to be fairly harmless.

In the end, the disguised Digimon sighs and heads away as she moves to take a look at one of the Floramon just to make sure that the Digimon wasn't hurt. "I think I'll follow him, at least for a little while." Patamon says and she glances at the orange Digimon, a bit surprised but nods. "If that's what you want to do, go for it." She says and with a quick smile, the small rookie takes off after the white haired teen.

"I wonder what kind of Digimon he was? He seemed pretty human despite his hair color and his eyes." Yolei wonders and she shrugs as she sighs.

Loki

He really didn't know what to make of that group he just encountered but had to admit that he was glad to leave in search for food. He did wonder just who they were but he had felt highly uneasy being in their presence. The void within him had begun to become more unbearable the more time he spent in their presence. He never expected that the void could become more unbearable but it had and simply because of that group of human and Digimon.

He pauses as he spots a berry bush and after a few minutes of studying them, he decides to try one to see if they're eatable. After a few minutes of nothing happening, he picks a few more and pops them into his mouth. Once he manages to take the edge off of his hunger, he moves on in search of something more filling.

He does pause for a few seconds as he turns to stare behind him when he hears something rustling. He frowns after a few seconds but continues moving forward in hopes of finding something more filling. He ignores the rustling of leaves that follow him, ideally wondering which Digimon it could be that's spying on him.

Patamon

He follows the white haired teenager though the tree tops. Although he curses himself whenever he causes the leaves to rustle since it alerts the unusual teenager to his presence. He knew his cover was blown but he found himself attracted to the supposedly disguised Digimon, there was just something about the teenager that made him want to cry out in joy and never let him out of his sight.

It shocked him when he realized that and that's why he's following this teen, he hopes to discover what it was about him that could bring out that reaction, especially considering that the teen before him was a Digimon.

Ken Ichijouji

He finally collapses by a large tree after running for what feels like hours. He rolls onto his side before sitting with his back by the tree trunk with his knees coming to his chest. He wraps his arms about his legs as he rests his chin on his knees. And so he remained like that until he hears Wormmon talking to him.

"Ken, snap out of it Ken!" His partner says and he blinks as he focuses in on the world about him. "I can't believe I did that to him, Wormmon! I not only enslaved him but I forced him to forget who he was before he became my slave! How can I forgive myself for doing that? How can I expect him to forgive me?" He sobs as he feels new tears well up in his eyes.

"I know it's overwhelming, Ken, but you can try and help him now. He needs somebody right now." Wormmon says. "He almost died because I forgot about him." He reminds Wormmon and his partner sighs. "But he didn't, Ken. If you keep dwelling on what ifs and could have beens then you'll never be able to sleep comfortably ever again! You'll drive yourself over the deep end and then where will I be? Besides, if you dwell on those things, how will you help Loki regain what he lost?"

"I don't see why you're calling him Loki when his name is TK, Wormmon." He points out. "He can't be TK while he's got that Control Spiral around his arm." Wormmon says and he freezes. "But how? It should have come off by now..." He mutters as he wipes the tears from his cheeks.

"Those on Digimon did, he's not a Digimon, Ken. It took five Dark Rings to get him to be obedient to your wishes, it only took one Dark Ring for Digimon below champion level." Wormmon points out and he can't help but swallow as he considers this.

"And then I put that Control Spiral about his left arm which absorbed all five Dark Rings..." He groans as he recalls seeing that happen during that morning. "I didn't know they could do that." Wormmon says and he sighs. "I don't think it should have happened either but it did. I had put him in a stasis tube and programed it to scan him in a mouth's time. I wonder what that scan would have revealed after he had it on him for a whole month..." He says with a frown.

"And with the base destroyed, I can't recover those test results." He states with a sigh as he begins to rub his temple. "What's so important about these test results?" Wormmon asks and he bites his lower lip for a few seconds before answering, "Before I put him in the stasis tube, I scanned his data to see if any abnormalities had taken root within his core data. There had been an oddity already in his data and don't have the equipment to do another scan of his data to see if that oddity has gotten worse or had been fixed. After all, his eyes were what got me wondering if his data was beginning to be affected by the Dark Rings."

"Oh." Wormmon says after a few minutes. "You really think he has damage from his exposure to first the Dark Rings and the Control Spiral?" His partner asks and he nods. "I think there is. After all, they were designed to control Digimon, not humans let alone a Digidestine." He answers and after a few minutes, he finally gets to his feet.

"I guess I might as well find him and at least offer my help to him." He murmurs softly and Wormmon says, "That's the spirit, Ken." With a sigh, he takes out his D-3 and glances at the screen. It seems that his Digivice still has a lock on Loki, though how that is he doesn't know but after a few minutes of moving his D-3 about, he takes off in the direction where the signal is the strongest.

Loki

_Those are very thin bananas._ He muses softly to himself as he studies a bunch of them hanging from a branch. Looking down, he glances about for a rock to dislodge them.

On finding one large enough, he picks it up and takes time aiming for the stem of the bunch. With his tongue sticking out, he gets ready to make his throw with his right hand. As he lets the rock fly, he hears something roar behind him.

Ignoring the fruit tree behind him, he slowly turns around and finds a very large armor Digimon known commonly as Monochromon standing there, getting ready to charge. He can't help thinking at he stares at the champion, _Today just isn't my day, is it?_

With a growl, the Monochromon charges at him and he manages to throw himself to the right before sprinting away from the large Digimon. It was fairly simple to hear the Digimon give chase. He's just happy he managed to at least eat something before he's required to run away from an angry Digimon.

_I don't know why but I'm sure that meeting those people jinxed me in some way. After all, before today, I never encountered so many Digimon hostile Digimon!_ He thinks as he races through the underbrush of the forest while Monochromon seems so intent on him that the champion Digimon is smashing through the trees to get at him.

Patamon

Although he follows the teen as he flees from the Monochromon, he can't help but wonder why he doesn't just transform into his true form and fight the champion off. After all, the presence of the Control Spiral means that the disguised Digimon must be an ultimate level Digimon. And yet, he felt this overwhelming surge of energy, something that hearkens back to earlier times, when TK was only a child of eight.

_What to do, what to do... Should I give in and Digivolve to protect him or should I just wait to see him protect himself?_ He wonders to himself as he moves through the forest, keeping a few feet from the disguised Digimon.

"Loki?" He hears Ken say and he turns to find Ken looking surprised as the teenager sprints pass. "Digimon... chasing me!" The now dubbed Loki exclaims before the white haired teen vanishes, leaving Ken and Wormmon confused for a few seconds before they hear what it is that causing Loki to race away.

It wasn't long before Ken is running away while carrying his partner, Wormmon. "Why hasn't he transformed?" He asks as he moves to fly next to the pair.

"Huh?" Ken asks while Wormmon blinks before giving him a confused look. "I mean the one with the Control Spiral on his arm." He clarifies and Wormmon's eyes seem to bug out. "Loki isn't a Digimon, he's... well, he's TK, your partner." Wormmon answers while Ken focuses in on running away from the Monochromon.

He almost falls out of the air on hearing that. He felt his jaw drop and he almost pauses in mid air before remembering what's coming from behind and he once more tries to match Ken's pace. "But... how? We found his Digivice in a pawn shop!" He cries out.

"I kind of... When I was the... He was at the bottom of a cliff." Ken huffs and he glances at Wormmon. Wormmon sighs but fills in the blanks. "Ken found him at the bottom of this cliff in an area that he controlled. After ordering the Digimon with him to pick up your partner, they headed back to the base. Ken then proceeded to attend to TK's injuries although on a whim, Ken put a Dark Ring on TK's right arm and renamed him Loki."

Ken nods and huffs, "I thought... the name... appropriate. You... were... causing me... a lot... of trouble... and Loki... is... suppose... to be... the god... of mischief." He turns away from the pair as he tries to wrap his mind about this new bit of information.

"Then why didn't he say something when he saw us?" He wonders and Wormmon answers, "Well, when TK got well, the Dark Ring wasn't really causing him to be obedient and so Ken added another Dark Ring. Even with it, TK continued to show that those rings were controlling him and I'm not sure what Ken was thinking when he order TK to forget his past from the moment he entered into Ken's care and was renamed Loki. After going berserk a few times despite Ken adding a third Dark Ring, with the fourth Dark Ring, Loki calmed down and it was then did we realize that Ken's previous order had caused him to lose his memory."

He felt a lump in his gut as he tried to imagine what must TK have gone through when Ken had been the Digimon Emperor. "Loki did seems to be obedient but it turned out to be a ploy and he almost escaped. With that, Ken added a fifth Dark Ring and pretty much ordered two champion Digimon to keep Loki from escaping whenever Loki left his rooms. Although, a side effect from having so many Dark Rings was that the whites of his eyes turned black and the effect of not knowing who he is and the lack of mirrors caused Loki's looks to alter." Wormmon continues and then they pause as they don't hear Monochromon behind them.

As Ken slows, he notes that his partner wasn't that far head of them, also resting. Felt a sharp pain within him at the sight of his changed partner. Guilt erupts but as Ken sits down, he asks, "When did you give him a Control Spiral?"

"About a week after I had enslaved Agumon." Ken answers softly. "His eyes turned red as a result as well as causing the five Dark Rings to break apart and be absorbed by the Control Spiral. After doing a data scan, I placed him in a stasis tube with orders for the computer to perform another data scan in a months time to see if exposure to both control devices were causing any types of data abnormalities."

After a few minutes, he charges towards Loki and within seconds, throws himself at the white haired teen as he felt tears well up in his eyes. It wasn't long before Loki takes him from his position on Loki's shoulder and into his arms, holding him at his chest. He grips Loki's shirt as he sobs, "I'm so sorry, please, forgive me for not being there, TK!"

He feels his partner tense at hearing his name but he doesn't care at the moment if his partner answers to that name or not. For now, he's just happy to have him back.

Loki

He's a bit overwhelmed by first, having the orange Digimon called Patamon throw himself at him, asking for forgiveness and then having Ken and Wormmon tell him that his name is TK and Patamon is his partner Digimon. Ken told him about what he remembers his reason were for keeping him in that glass tube.

He found it all way too much to handle but he's also very aware of just how delicate Ken and Patamon were during all of this so he managed to bite down his desire to say something like 'I need to be alone to think about this' or 'how do I know you're telling me the truth?' Neither of those would help him any and they would hurt two of the three that were with him. Although he gets a feeling that while Wormmon won't hold it against him for causing Ken to cry, Wormmon won't be happy with him about it either.

"Ok, I can see that this is hard for you to tell me this, Ken, but I can't help but wonder, what are we going to do about myself enforce amnesia? At this moment, I get the feeling that the others will be expecting me to be TK when I don't know the first thing about being TK." He says, hoping that this doesn't bring a fit of crying out of either of the two emotional vulnerable people with him at this point in time.

"It would help if he looked like himself too." Patamon muses from his position in his arms since the little Digimon has a good strong grip of his shirt and doesn't seems to want to let go of it at the moment. "We really need to get that Control Spiral off of him." Wormmon muses and Ken sighs.

"Well, we could try heading to the real world and see if that doesn't alter his appearance. For all we know, it might even get rid of his Control Spiral since they're meant to work in the Digital world and not in the real world." Ken muses and Patamon pipes in, "But we might need to get his Digivice from Matt in order to do that."

"Well, un-partnered Digimon have come to the real world, I don't see why it won't work for him." Ken answers and he just runs his free hand through his hair, still feeling out of his depth. After all, he's had a very overwhelming day as it is and it's not even lunch yet.

"Where will he stay if we're going to involve the others just yet?" Patamon asks and Ken answers, "Well... I'm sure if I ask my folk, you two can stay at my place. I do own a bunk bed." Just then his stomach decided to make itself known.

*growl*

"I still haven't eaten anything more filling then a few handfuls of berries." He remarks and Patamon giggles before the orange Digimon wiggles out of his one arm and falls to his lap. The orange Digimon even moves to put an ear close to his midsection as his stomach growls once more. "I see, I see. So you want a plate of pancakes topped with strawberries you say?" Patamon says and Ken and Wormmon laugh while he groans while Patamon just grins broadly up at him.

"Well, I don't know about a plate filled with pancakes but I'm sure with lunch around the bend that we can find something for you to eat before then." Ken says as he gets to his feet with Wormmon in his arms. He puts an arm about Patamon before he sets to his own feet. "Hopefully." He muses with a sigh.

And so with Patamon in his arms, he follows his former master through the forest in silence. He did wonder, briefly, if he shouldn't ask Patamon if he needed to check in with his... their friends but decided not to ruin the mood.

**-)o(-**

He stares up at the ceiling as he lies on the bed. Although their hope to be rid of his appearance hadn't come through as well as they'd hoped, the blackness of his eyes had returned to being white and the place where the Control Spiral had been on his left arm was a spiral shaped tattoo, these to alterations to his appearance did cause him to look a great deal normal. Normal enough that he didn't gather looks besides the ones that Ken likely gathered on a regular bases.

_I wonder what Ken and Patamon have planned to do tomorrow?_ He wonders as he turns his head to stare at the sleeping rookie that's resting on the pillow. He did know that it did involve him meeting his older brother, Matt. _I can't believe I have a brother._ He thinks and then perks up as he hears Ken enter into the room with drinks.

"So I can spend the night then?" He asks as he sits up and Ken smiles a bit. "They were thrilled at the very thought of hosting one of my friends for a sleepover." Ken answers and he glances at the door for a few seconds as he wonders a bit about his own parents.

"I can't believe how many buildings there are let alone how many people live among them." He muses as he turns to regard the balcony and the view of the city it gives him. "I guess its hard to believe you lived in this city, huh?" Ken asks and he nods.

"Very unbelievable. Over six billion people in the world... I never gave the number much thought until now." He admits as he gets off the bed to walk to the window, staring out at the world outside of this bedroom.

Doing so made him feel so tiny, so insignificant to what life has to offer. "They're kind of like ants from this height, huh?" Ken says and he blinks before turning to look at him. "Yea, they are. Everything is built so tall, it kind of makes me long for the Digital world. I know of this world but I don't really remember living in it." He tells Ken and notes the hint of sadness and guilt spark within Ken's eyes.

"Hopefully we'll have your memory fixed soon, Loki." Ken says and he nods in agreement, feeling a bit better to hear the name he's familiar with then the one he lost and will likely have to earn back. He turns away from Ken and studies the sky as the sun begins to set. He watches as some birds land on Ken's balcony before they take off after a few seconds of rest.

He wonders just what the future holds for him as he stands there, watching the sun lower into the horizon. The dying rays of light bouncing off the surrounding buildings and windows.

Matt Ishida

"So Patamon never did show up to return home with Kari?" He asks Tai and his best friend hums in agreement. "Apparently Patamon took off to follow a strange Digimon disguised as a teenager who still has Control Spiral about his left arm." Tai tells him and he sighs.

"When aren't Digimon strange?" He muses and he can hear his best friend chuckle in agreement. "Anyway, I better be going or I'll be late for soccer practice. See you around Matt." Tai says after a few seconds. "Later, Tai." He says before turning off the phone.

As he hangs up the phone, he then moves to start doing the dishes once he puts his dirty dishes in the sink and then plugs it up before he turns on the hot water. He adds liquid dish soap to the filling sink and then rummages around for plastic gloves. As he turns off the hot water, he begins to put the rest of the dirty dishes in the soapy water.

*Knock*

*knock*

He blinks and then calls out as he walks to the door, "Who is it?" A semi familiar voice answers, "It's Ken, Ken Ichijouji!" He pauses for a moment as he blinks his eyes in surprise. _What's he doing standing outside of our apartment? Better yet, how did he know I lived here?_

He opens the door a bit and takes a look into the hallway. He freezes as he stares at the teenager with silvery white hair, red eyes who has Patamon in his arms. "Hi Matt!" Patamon says cheerfully and he blinks as he turns to look down at the little Digimon.

"Come in..." He says after a few minutes as he returns to staring at the strange teen who's with Ken, Patamon, and Wormmon. "Thanks." Ken says nervously and the white haired one nods in agreement.

He pulls off his rubber gloves as they take off their shoes. He puts the gloves on a chair before turning to look at the two who dropped in to pay him a visit. "I hope we didn't come at a bad time." Ken says and he just shrugs. "I was just about to do the dishes." He answers.

"Anyway, what brings you guys here?" He asks, trying not to feel a pang of betrayal at the sight of Patamon being held in this strange teen's arms, so he focuses in on looking at Ken. "I have something to confess, something that I know I might never be able to make up to any of you, especially to ... TK here." Ken says and he feels as if he's been struck.

"TK...?" He says slowly as he turns to look at the nervous looking teen and then at Patamon. "He is TK, Matt, he's just got amnesia." Patamon says and he replies without thinking, "He doesn't look like TK."

"It seems that getting amnesia in the Digital world and not being around mirror causes the one with memory lost to forget what they're suppose to look like." Ken admits with a sigh. He blinks but after remembering how Davis, Yolei, Cody, and even Ken when he had been the Digimon Emperor, got new cloths and new looks whenever they enter into the Digital world, it seems believable that this would explain how strange looking teen could be his little brother.

"Ok, explain how he got amnesia and how this relates to why you feel so guilty." He says and Patamon shifts nervously in TK's arms. With a sigh, his little brother holds up his left arm for him to see, for a moment he didn't get why TK was doing so but he then narrows his eyes at the spiral shaped tattoo on his baby brother's arm.

Then his eyes widen slightly as he recalls the last bit of conversation with Tai, the one about Patamon taking off to follow a Digimon disguised as a human who still had a Control Spiral on his arm. He felt his mouth go dry as he moves a chair so he can sit on it. "You knew where he was all along, when you were..." He mutters and Ken sighs but doesn't argue.

"He found me at the bottom of a cliff." TK says, he contributes the slightly different voice to him having grown since he last saw him. "I don't remember much of my early days but I do know that it took five Dark Rings before he felt that I couldn't totally disobey his orders." TK says as he retracts his arms from the air.

He felt a strange mixture of emotion at that bit of information. "And yet he put a Control Spiral on you." He says simply and TK sighs. "I get the feeling after I went berserk one too many times, he grew wary of me, so much so that I didn't see him much after he put the fifth one on." TK answers and he glances over to Ken, Ken just nods.

"When he had four of them, he still almost escaped. Though his eyes didn't turn red until the Control Spiral was put on his left arm." Ken answers and he still didn't know why, but he felt pride over that fact, it showed that even though they were unaware of where he really was, TK was fighting the Digimon Emperor in his own way. "I didn't recall anything about him until I met him yesterday in the forest. A lot of what I did as the Digimon Emperor seems to be one huge blur." Ken admits with a sigh.

"So the amnesia came with which number of Dark Rings?" He asks and Ken seems to cringe while TK shifts his weight. In the end, as he studies them both as minutes tick by, it's Wormmon that answered. "Well, Ken did decide to rename TK before the amnesia set in. Right now I think he prefers that name until he remembers his life as TK."

He raises an eyebrow as he asks, "And what did you rename him?" Although he doubts he'd like whatever name the Digimon Emperor picked. "Loki, that's what he's been calling me since I entered into his care." TK answers and he blinks. "Why Loki?" He wonders and Ken answers, "Well, you guys were causing me all sorts of mischief and Loki is the Norse god of tricks..."

"Well, at least it wasn't Blondie or something along those lines." He admits and then frowns. "That still doesn't answer when did he begin to lose his memory." He reminds them.

"I ordered him to lose his memory of who he had been before he became my... slave." Ken answers and stares down at the floor. He can't help but feel a headache brewing. "Have you tried ordering him to remember?" He asks after a few seconds, right now, he rather not cause TK to become withdrawn and exploding in anger at Ken would likely lead to that since at this moment, TK's likely grasping at straws and has come to rely on Ken for some kind of support.

He'll leave it to Tai to scream and shout at Ken, right now though, it won't do much to help the situation. "That might not work..." TK admits and he gives his younger brother a questioning look. "Well, for one, I don't see him as my master, my former master yes, but not my master." TK states in a matter of fact way, which supports his thoughts on TK relying on Ken for support.

"I guess we just have to destroy the Control Spiral then." He muses and then realizes that they'd likely have to go to the Digital world to do so. "Which is why we're here, actually. We kind of need TK's Digivice since we're not sure if he's capable of entering the Digital world without one." Patamon says and he grins slightly as he gets to his feet.

"I'll go get it now then." And with that, he heads to his room to grab the small white Digivice that belongs to TK. As he does so, he couldn't help but feel as if his world had taken a new twist. _At least I have my little brother back._ He muses, although he could understand why Ken hadn't tried to approach them as a group.

_It's likely hard enough as it is fessing up to this, it'll be easier to face us as a group once TK's back to normal._ He thinks as he exits out of his room with the Digivice. "Here, catch!" He calls out and as the little white Digivice sails through the air, TK catches it easily enough.

As TK moves to examine it, the Digivice flashes brightly and Patamon calls out, "Loki!" His little brother falls to the ground, his whole body a glow. "Ken get me the phone, I got to call Joe!" He cries as he races to the glowing form of his baby brother.

TK Takaishi

"... coming too." He hears somebody familiar yet faint voice say. "Are you sure he's alright? His eyes..." Another voice says, a voice that sounds a bit clearer. "What about my eyes?" He asks as his vision comes into focus and he stares up into Joe's and his brother's face as they're looking down at him.

"You're eye whites... they're... black." Matt says and he blinks as that sounds very familiar. "They got that way a few Dark Rings ago." He says as he tries to sit up. His headache seems to be fading and he glances about for Ken.

"Well, at least you look like you." Patamon muses as his partner comes into view. "Well, I feel like myself, too." He muses with a slight smile as he picks the orange Digimon out of the air.

"Check out your D-3! It's kind of like your eyes." Patamon pipes in and he blinks as Matt hands him a faintly familiar device, one colored black with green trim and symbols. "But how?" He wonders as he turns his Digivice over in his hand.

"Who knows? Maybe Izzy can tell us after examining it. Although, I'm a bit more worried about your eyes..." Joe muses and he sighs. "I think I'm just glad to remember and to be able to see." He answers.

"It's great to have you back, TK." Matt says and he smiles as he says, "It's great to be back, Matt."

**- o 0 o -**


End file.
